‘Vampire Diaries’ Recap: Damon & Elena’s Relationship Is Doomed

The Stefan-Damon-Elena love triangle took its sharpest turn this week, and I know I’ve said this before, but things will never be the same again. No, seriously this time!

Where do I even begin? The Nov. 29 episode of The Vampire Diaries, as anticipated, was basically an hour-long present for frustrated “Delena” fans — until the very end of course. Just when it seemed Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) had finally achieved their happily-ever-after, a shocking secret about their relationship was revealed.

Despite Elena insisting her feelings for Damon were genuine — she even gave Stefan (Paul Wesley) an impassioned ‘let me go’ speech — we learned she only has these intense feelings because she’s sired to him! So even though the long-awaited Damon/Elena sex scene was totally hot and beautifully filmed, knowing it was all a sham kind of sucked the fun out of it. Kind of.

I find myself conflicted over this twist. While I appreciate its epicness, I wish we’d gotten to see Damon and Elena together more before finding out that he’s basically forcing her to be with him. Because even though her current actions are a result of the sire, we all know she loves him. She loved him as a human, and she loves him now. I’m not looking forward to her finding out about the sire bond, especially because — according to the promo for next week’s episode — it seems like Damon is fully aware of what he’s doing.

Shane & Hayley’s dirty bag o’ tricks:

But Elena’s love life wasn’t the only story line that suffered a major twist this week. While Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) continued breaking the hybrids’ sire bonds, he had no idea she was secretly working with Professor Shane (David Alpay) the whole time! With each sire bond that’s broken, Hayley and Shane apparently come one step closer to achieving their goal — whatever that is.

Jeremy loses control of his vampire hunter instincts:

It’s a good thing Jeremy’s (Steven R. McQueen) so freakin’ cute, because otherwise he’d really be on my s**t list. With Stefan’s assistance, Jeremy went on a vampire killing spree and sped up his process of becoming an über hunter. Had Stefan not stepped in to stop him, Jeremy would have made Elena his next victim, though I guess it’s only fair he saved the day since it’s his fault Jeremy got all murderous in the first place.

There was one good thing about Jeremy losing control, though; it gave perfect-human Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig) a chance to remind us all what a handsome Band-Aid he is! Not only did he spend the hour giving words of wisdom to his best bro Jeremy, but he even decided to move in to the Gilbert house. Maybe next week they’ll fight over who gets to shower first and then decide to just do it at the same time! (Oh, God, what has this show done to me?)

Klaus & Caroline’s first date:

Truth be told, I’ve never understood “Klaroline.” No matter how attractive Joseph Morganis, I couldn’t force myself to root for Klaus and Caroline (Candice Accola) to get together, considering all the pain he’s caused her over the seasons. That is… until tonight.

She agreed to be his date to the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, and she seemed genuinely happy to be spending time with him. Every laugh was sincere, every interaction was adorable, and I’m honestly surprised they didn’t end the episode by make sexy times, Delena-style.

Team Stelena vs. Team Delena

And now, for the weekly Stelena/Delena breakdown! You might disagree with how close the results are, but real-talk, finding out about the sire bond was a major blow for “Delena.” Some might say a cheap blow…

Stefan discovers Elena is sired to Damon, hence all of the feelings. (+250 points)

TOTAL: 250 points

Elena lights up when she first sees Damon at the pageant. (+15 points)

It’s revealed that Elena’s feelings are a result of her siring. (-250 points)

TOTAL: 290 points

How do you feel about the epic sire twist? Are you disappointed that Elena is basically being forced to love Damon? And what do you think Hayley and Shane are really up to? Plus, how much more do you love Klaus after this week’s cute-fest? Drop me a comment with your thoughts and theories!